Debrief

The abandoned children's park was as depressing as ever.

The swings swayed eerily despite the lack of wind, their rusted chains creaking like something out of a horror movie.

The slide, once painted a bright, cheerful yellow, was now so faded and chipped it looked like it had been left out in the sun for a hundred years.

The merry-go-round was stuck at an awkward tilt, half-sunken into the dirt like it had accepted its fate and decided to become part of the earth.

A perfect place for a top-secret meeting.

I sat cross-legged on the ground, my sketchbook open in front of me, pen moving somewhat smoothly over the pages. I wasn't really focused on it, not entirely anyway, but it kept my hands busy as Siyeon debriefed me on everything that had gone down at the Bully Council's general assembly.

Sehun, meanwhile, was doing… something on the jungle gym.

At this point, I'd stopped trying to understand his workouts. He was currently hanging upside down from the bars, doing slow, controlled crunches… which would've been normal if he wasn't eating Sehee's grandma's noodles while doing it.

I ignored him, trying to keep my attention on Siyeon as I sketched, the sharp lines of my pen following the shapes that came naturally in my head but unnaturally with my hands.

"…And that's it," Siyeon finished. "Seowon's rep is under suspicion. No action has been taken yet, but they're watching him."

I let out a hum, my pen moving across the page to fill in the figure I'd started. "That's all?"

Siyeon sighed, crossing her arms. "No. There were a few other things, but nothing immediately relevant."

I raised an eyebrow, glancing up from my sketch. "Like?"

She gave me a look, but relented. "For one, the Council is cracking down on neighborhoods that have been slacking on their profit quotas. They called out three in particular… Boramae, Bongcheon, and Nokbeon."

I nodded, the motion instinctive as I added shading to the character in front of me. "Boramae's us."

She nodded, clearly used to the casual way I spoke while sketching. "It means we need to show results. Soon."

That wasn't unexpected. Boramae's profits were basically nonexistent. It was only a matter of time before the Council noticed and demanded we pull our weight.

"Bongcheon and Nokbeon though?" I frowned, my hand pausing for just a second. "I thought Bongcheon was stable."

"They were," Siyeon said. "Until recently. They've had internal issues, their rep stepped out for a bit so apparently some of their employment services were rendered null, which means their earnings have taken a hit. Nokbeon, on the other hand, has been lagging for a while. They're mostly small-time. No real money flow."

Sehun, still upside down, let out a short laugh. "So what you're saying is, we're at the bottom of the food chain with all the other losers."

Siyeon didn't even look at him. "Correct."

I exhaled through my nose, glancing back down at my sketchbook. "Anything else?"

She thought for a second, her gaze flickering to my hands as my pen moved across the page. "Yeah. The Council is increasing enforcement on non-affiliated groups. They want to clamp down on students who aren't tied to any specific neighborhood."

I frowned, a slight wrinkle between my brows as I made a rough sketch of something completely unrelated. "Why?"

"Because those students are easy prey," Siyeon said bluntly. "The Council wants to get rid of wildcards. If you're not under a neighborhood's control, you're an unpredictable factor. And they don't like unpredictability."

That was a problem. A lot of students who weren't part of a neighborhood had already been suffering under the Council's rule, but now? Now they'd be targeted even harder.

I let that information settle, turning the page of my sketchbook absently. Boramae was on notice. The Council was moving more aggressively. And independent students were becoming even more vulnerable.

In other words, everything was getting worse.

"Alright," I said. "Then we need a profit model. Fast."

Siyeon gave me a flat look. "No shit."

Sehun dropped down from the bars, stretching out his shoulders. "So, what's the plan? We running an underground casino? Some kind of illegal smuggling ring?"

I didn't even look up from my drawing. "Aren't there other neighborhoods already doing that?"

"Yeah, but why don't we fuse them together, you know? Run a casino and then sell off the losers to some gang."

I frowned, my pencil leaving a jagged mark on the paper. "I know you're joking but seriously, I don't want to do anything illegal."

"Everything's illegal if you think about it," Sehun said with a smirk.

"No, everything's illegal if you think about it. You're fucking stupid, remember?"

Sehun scoffed and went back to inhaling his noodles while I could see Siyeon holding back a sigh.

I kept sketching, lost in my thoughts. My hand moved with automatic precision as I mentally ran through the plan in my head.

"I have an idea…" I started, my pen stopping to circle a character's face. "Something my dad would've been happy about, and something we could use as an emergency if things go wrong."

Sehun tilted his head and then jumped back into the monkey bars.

"What do you mean?" He grunted out as he went back into his pullups.

I paused for a moment and then spoke.

"What's our current goal?"

"Survive until he returns." Siyeon responded immediately.

Sehun paused and then shrugged. "Sure, something like that."

"Wow, you guys don't love me at all, do you?"

Siyeon scoffed, but I could see the hints of a smile underneath it. "You're getting there. Our old rep was just… more."

I raised my hands in surrender, my pencil tracing the outline of a character's shirt absentmindedly. "Sure, sure. But you gotta remember this… I'm here so I can find out about my dad. The council shuts down everything to do with investigating what went down which means…"

"The chances are high they had something to do with it." Siyeon finished for me.

I pointed my finger at her. "Bingo."

Sehun grunted out once more. "So what? Your profit model is going to be you fighting the entire council?"

"Once again, I know you're joking, but you're actually kinda close this time."

He stared at me like I'd just grown another head. "You wanna make money by… what, fighting?"

Siyeon crossed her arms, her expression unreadable. "It sounds like you're talking about some kind of… service."

I didn't answer immediately. Instead, I leaned against the rusted frame of the slide, arms crossed, looking out at the abandoned playground. The swings creaked slightly.

"It's an idea," I admitted.

Siyeon narrowed her eyes. "A profitable one?"

"If I do it right."

Sehun scoffed, dropping down from the monkey bars. "That's vague as hell."

"Yeah, well, I'm still working it out," I said. "I need to iron out some details before I can even explain it properly."

Siyeon tapped her fingers against her arm. "What kind of details?"

"The important kind," I said dryly.

She gave me a flat look. "You realize you're making this sound more suspicious than it probably is, right?"

Sehun pointed at me. "Exactly. Just say it. What are we doing? Stealing bikes and selling them back to the owners?"

I stared at him. "That was oddly specific."

He shrugged. "I've seen it happen."

I sighed. "It's nothing illegal."

Sehun raised an eyebrow. "That just makes me more confused. Every gang in Gwanak makes money off illegal shit. What else is there?"

"There's a way," I said. "Something different. Something we can build up properly. But I need time to put it together."

"Does it involve Jihan? He seems to know a bit about everything so…"

I shook my head. "Nah, it could basically involve anyone and besides… Jihan hasn't talked to me in a few days."

She blinked. "What happened?"

Running my fingers through my hair, I spat out my gum into the sandy floor.

"Just… things."

Siyeon studied me for a long moment. "And you're sure your idea isn't stupid?"

I grinned, not stopping my pen from its steady rhythm. "I wouldn't say that. But if it works, we won't have to worry about money again."

Sehun tilted his head. "So what, you're just gonna disappear and come back with a business plan?"

"Something like that."

Siyeon exhaled, then finally nodded. "Alright. I'll trust you on this. But don't take too long. Boramae still needs a profit model, and if we don't come up with one soon, someone else will do it for us."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. "I know."

Sehun groaned. "Great. More waiting. I hate waiting."

I ignored him, already running through the calculations in my head.

I had the foundation of something big. Something that could actually work.

Hopefully.

After a few moments of silence, Siyeon suddenly spoke, her voice curious. "Hey, by the way... why are you drawing?"

I blinked, distracted for a second as I looked up at her.

"Drawing?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"You've been sketching non-stop," she noted, her gaze flickering to my sketchbook before meeting my eyes again. "Is there some reason you've suddenly taken up drawing?"

I shifted, feeling a small pang of discomfort. "Oh, it's nothing. Just… a habit, I guess."

Sehun, who had stopped eating his noodles, frowned from where he was leaning against the bars. "Yeah, but you've been at it for a while. You never seemed the artistic type."

I shrugged, not offering an explanation. "I get bored sometimes."

Sehun wasn't convinced, but he didn't press it. Siyeon raised an eyebrow but let the topic go, though I could feel the weight of her curiosity lingering in the air.

The quiet hum of the swings creaked in the distance as I went back to sketching, hoping they wouldn't dig any deeper.

Siyeon's voice cut through the silence again. "Do any of you know where Sehee is these days? He hasn't been coming into school and I can't reach him."

I frowned, pausing my sketch. "Did you check his part-time jobs?"

She sighed. "I don't even know where all of them are."

That was a problem. I only knew about the convenience store job, and even then, I had no clue which days he actually worked.

Sehun, as usual, was deeply unhelpful. "Maybe he finally got sick of you and dipped."

Siyeon shot him a glare. "Yeah? Maybe I'll dip you into the Han River."

"I'm just saying," Sehun said with a smirk. "If you nagged me 24/7, I'd probably fake my own death too."

Siyeon crossed her arms. "If I nagged you 24/7, you'd actually have a functioning brain cell."

Sehun scowled and then went back to his pull ups.

She sighed. "He hasn't been at school, and no one else seems to know where he is. It's weird."

I nodded. "Alright… then let's check his grandma's place tomorrow."

Siyeon hummed in agreement, but Sehun just stretched his arms behind his head. "Man, you're really making me work for this friendship, huh?"

"You're acting like you had anything better to do," I deadpanned.

"You bastard, I was literally busy–"

"Sehun, if you say 'training arc,' I swear to God…"

He clicked his tongue. "First of all, that's exactly what I was gonna say, and second of all, you need to respect the grind."

Siyeon exhaled sharply, rubbing her temples. "I can't believe I voluntarily spend time with you two."

I looked between them and sighed.

Why were my only friends basically animals?

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I like writing chapters of solely character interactions. I love this stuff. They're just so fucking funny, they really wasted Siyeon into just being fanservice in the manhwa.

What could his idea for a profit model be...

Why don't you guys guess...

Patreon: Teddartic

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Also guys, really really important.

If you're reading this please answer.

Are there any other stories you guys want to see? 

I kinda want a side project to throw my mind onto. This fic will still update daily (sometimes not on Sundays, depends on the week tbh) but I'll just have another fic which will update semi-irregularly.

If you don't have a story idea you can just comment the story you want to see me write a fanfic in.

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